Common Council can't extend comment period

News-Times, The (Danbury, CT)

Published 7:00 pm, Tuesday, January 8, 2008

Benjamin Chianese
, a Democrat representing the 6th Ward, sent a request to deputy corporation counsel
Les Pinter
on Tuesday asking for an opinion on whether the Council could extend the 30-minute comment period as needed.

However, the attorney issued an opinion Tuesday saying the Council could not extend the time.

Chianese's request was fueled by a
Common Council
meeting Jan. 3, when Mayor
Mark Boughton
, citing the City
Charter
, ended a 30-minute public comment period that opened the meeting.

At the time, the Common Council faced a full house of residents who wanted to comment on a proposal to enroll Danbury police in a program run by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

The 30-minute rule left many residents unable to express their opinions.

"It's rare we get that many people at one of our meetings, and it's nice to see," Chianese said. "We'd like to encourage more people to attend our meetings. We should give them the right to speak."

Danbury officials on Tuesday used the Connect-CTY system to place automated calls to city residents regarding the proposed pact with ICE, Mayor Mark Boughton said.

"It's not scientific, but were just trying to gauge what people's opinions are," Boughton said.

Results of the poll will be made public today, he said.

In his request to the city attorney, Chianese quoted the City Charter as saying the Common Council must set aside 30 minutes for public comment at the start of every Common Council meeting.

However, Chianese pointed out that the Charter did not say anything about the Council extending the comment beyond 30 minutes.

However, Pinter said the Charter could not be interpreted to authorize an expansion of the public comment period.

The Council cannot vote to extend the time period, the city attorney advised.

Nevertheless, Chianese said the public comment period may be an issue for the
Danbury Charter Review Commission
, which is currently considering making changes to the set of rules that guide city government.